Napa

Napa Travel Guide

How much do travelers love California wine country? After Disneyland, the state’s prime wine country region pulls in the most visitors, and with good reason: The picturesque, rolling countryside, hundreds of wineries—producing mostly Chardonnay, Pinot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot varietals— as well as world-class restaurants that put those wines to good use. Even though California has other great wine regions (say, Sonoma, and the Russian River Valley), Napa Valley —anchored by the town of Napa—has come to signify the best of California wine, and it’s just an hour’s drive from San Francisco. And while you could visit Napa and easily spend a whole week just taking sips in the tasting rooms, you shouldn’t miss out on its other great delights, such as the spas, parks and hiking and cycling trails. Read this Napa travel guide to plan your trip.

Things Not to Miss in Napa

• Getting out among the vines by renting a bicycle or taking a farm tour
• Savoring the region’s culinary hot spots—supported by locally grown, organic, and sustainable produce
• Immerse yourself at a wine-country spa, featuring swanky vinotherapy sanctuaries or bubbling tubs of volcanic mud.

When to Go to Napa

The weather in Napa valley is pretty pleasant year round, with mild winters, colorful falls and cool spring seasons. As you plan your travel to Napa, know that the height of the Napa travel season is summer, when it can get a little hot (say, the 90s). Otherwise, March through October is the best time to visit Napa. Winters can get a little rainy, but prices dip and you’ll find fewer crowds.

Articles about Napa

My first trip to Napa Valley was in the late 1960’s, during my senior year at U.C. Berkeley. I had just turned 21, and here was this amazing place only an hour’s drive away with rolling blond hills and the sunny climate of Provence, where you coul...

By Adrien Glover, with Jennifer Flowers, John Newton, and Tracy Ziemer
See our slideshow of 10 Great Waterside Restaurants.
Blame it on the intoxicating salt air. Or the way the light bounces as the sun sets. Or the pure pleasure of digging into...

Michael Fagnoni and Molly Hawks, now co-chefs at Hawks Restaurant in Granite Bay, California, remember the first time they worked together to perfect a recipe. It was years ago, in the kitchen of another eatery. "We suddenly just looked up at each...

Gary Hofstetter, president of a private equity real estate fund in Boston, describes himself as a "suit on State Street." That’s quite a change from the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he was a wild-haired, rock-loving roadie for local bands in U...

Concentration is not hard to find in Napa Valley wines, because the fruit usually throws a punch. But balance is trickier. Napa winemakers often frame their exuberant grapes with too much oak until—in both reds and whites—you get show-offy, florid...

When another weekend in the city is the last thing you need, set your sights on one of these pastoral finds. With just three rooms, the Poetry Inn (6380 Silverado Trail, Napa, Calif.; 707/944-0646; www.poetryinn.com; doubles from $575) is one of t...

sonoma valley
How does a green and gold valley roughly 17 miles long and eight miles wide absorb 21/2 million visitors a year?By luring them to the main route, Highway 12, then leading them off it. Set atop ridges and buried in leafy canyons are ...

The spa world has a dirty little secret: even holistic healing can generate a big waste stream. (That organic-cotton robe you’re swaddled in?Laundered at least once a day.) However, key players are giving their own facilities a detox treatment. Th...

Travelers taking a Napa Valley tasting tour rarely have to wonder how and where their wine was made. But the same isn’t true for people interested in the provenance of their food. That’s no longer the case, with the opening of Oxbow Public Market ...